Edmonton Headlines: Friday, June 23, 2017

Good morning, Edmonton!

The summer of construction, and building Edmonton’s transportation future, is in the news again. I expect we’ll see a lot more stories than usual about all the road work this summer. It’s also nice to see the City reminding everyone that downtown’s bike network is just one piece of the growing bike puzzzle, as lanes are set to open and expand on 83 Avenue in Old Strathcona and Garneau, 102 Avenue to the west end, 127 Street and Queen Alexandra. The bike-citement will continue all summer!

(The City has also unveiled major potential changes to our transit system.)

Plus, we’ve got the LRT work from downtown to the southeast, new transit centres and some “skinny road” testing on west Jasper Avenue. It’s all happening!

Around the city

Edmonton will have a new mental health court this fall. These kinds of courts do exist in other places, so it’s great to see we’re going to start making the shift. Some people really don’t belong in the criminal courts as we’ve currently set them up, so this should help move people through more efficiently, and more compassionately. We’ve also seen success with drug court and a new bail program in Edmonton, so let’s hope these innovations keep growing in order to make the justice system work for more people.

A toxic workplace, full of abuse, gossip and sexual harassment is terrible in any industry, but it could be dangerous when we’re talking about somewhere like Edmonton Institution – the maximum security prison to our city’s northeast. CBC Edmonton’s got the details on a report that’s investigated the work conditions, and it has a long list of recommended changes, even as there’s another call for an independent investigation.

There’s a new coffee shop AND pharmacy open in the Twin Brooks neighbourhood. This is such a great way to make healthcare more about wellness.

Shopping is about to see a shift around the country, particularly in Alberta and the Edmonton Capital Region, as Sears goes into restructuring, closes stores and cuts jobs.

The City is making changes to make it easier to have farmers’ markets.

Could Alberta’s free market ways with alcohol be helping to encourage alcoholism and other drinking-related problems and illnesses?

Edmonton’s got six other cities around the world that it considers a “sister” or “friend“. Nobody seems too sure what that means though.

Let’s keep it short and sweet today. We’ve got a summer weekend to get to! (Including the Found Festival, and the start of The Works and Jazz festivals.)

Public engagement

The third public engagement session related to Beaumaris Lake, and the rehabilitation of our stormwater facilities, is this morning, 6:30 – 9 a.m. at Beaumaris Lake.

The Urban Planning Committee meets today, at 9:30 a.m. You can see the agenda online. The meeting will stream live from the River Valley Room.

The City’s public engagement drop-in sessions continue at the Whitemud Crossing Library, 3 – 5 p.m.